Pravdinsk

Pravdinsk (English) Правдинск (Russian)
-  Town[1]  -
In Pravdinsk
Location of Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia
Pravdinsk Location of Pravdinsk in Kaliningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 54°26′N 21°02′E / 54.433°N 21.033°ECoordinates: 54°26′N 21°02′E / 54.433°N 21.033°E
Coat of arms	Flag
Administrative status (as of December 2013)
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Kaliningrad Oblast[1]
Administrative district	Pravdinsky District[2]
Town of district significance	Pravdinsk[1]
Administrative center of	Pravdinsky District,[2] town of district significance of Pravdinsk[2]
Municipal status (as of May 2015)
Urban okrug	Pravdinsky Urban Okrug[3]
Administrative center of	Pravdinsky Urban Okrug[3]
Statistics
Population (2010 Census)	4,323 inhabitants[4]
Time zone	USZ1 (UTC+02:00)[5]
Founded	1312[6]
Town status since	1335
Previous names	Friedland (until 1945), Fridland (until 1946)[6]
Postal code(s)[7]	238400
Dialing code(s)	+7 40157
Official website
Pravdinsk on Wikimedia Commons

Pravdinsk (Russian:  Пра́вдинск​ ), prior to 1946 known by its German name Friedland (Lithuanian: Romuva; Polish: Frydląd) is a town and the administrative center of Pravdinsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Lava River, approximately 30 kilometers (19 mi) east of Bagrationovsk and 53 kilometers (33 mi) southeast of Kaliningrad, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 4,323 (2010 Census);^[4] 4,480 (2002 Census);^[8] 4,143 (1989 Census).^[9]

History

It was founded in 1312^[6] at a ford across the Lava River after the local Natangian tribe in Prussia was subdued by the Teutonic Knights. It received town privileges in 1335 under Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig. The town was devastated during the Thirteen Years' War between the Order and the Prussian Confederation. Known then by its German name Friedland ("peaceful land"), the town became a part of the Duchy of Prussia after the secularization of the Order-State in 1525. Under the ruling Hohenzollern dynasty, Friedland became a part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618 and was again ravaged by Swedish troops in the course of the Second Northern War 1655-1660.

Friedland belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701; on June 14, 1807, Napoleon's French army won the nearby Battle of Friedland against a combined Russian-Prussian army. The town became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany.

Conquered by the Red Army on January 31, 1945, the town (which belonged to Landkreis Bartenstein in the Province of East Prussia) was transferred from Germany to the Soviet Union according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement and the German population was expelled. The town was renamed Pravdinsk in 1946.^[6]

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Pravdinsk serves as the administrative center of Pravdinsky District.^[2] As an administrative division, it is, together with thirty-two rural localities, incorporated within Pravdinsky District as the town of district significance of Pravdinsk.^[2]

Within the framework of municipal divisions, since May 5, 2015, the territories of the town of district significance of Pravdinsk, the urban-type settlement of district significance of Zheleznodorozhny, and of two rural okrugs of Pravdinsky District are incorporated as Pravdinsky Urban Okrug.^[3] Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Pravdinsky Municipal District as Pravdinskoye Urban Settlement.^[3]

Religion

The St. George Church in Pravdinsk

The Late Gothic church of St. George in the town center is well preserved and today used by the Moscow Patriarchate.

Pravdinsk is identified in some historical accounts with Romuva, said to be the center of Baltic paganism. The Lithuanian name for Pravdinsk is "Romuva", and this was most likely its name in Old Prussian as well. Whether Romuva was in fact associated with Baltic paganism is disputed, however. Some have suggested that this belief started when early Christian chroniclers were confused by the similarity between "Romuva" and "Rome", and by their own unwarranted assumption that Baltic paganism should resemble Roman paganism in being focused around a particular geographical center.

International relations

Pravdinsk is part of the Friedliches Land (Peaceful Land) municipal association with:

• Frýdlant, Czech Republic
• Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Czech Republic
• Friedland, Brandenburg, Germany
• Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
• Friedland, Lower Saxony, Germany
• Korfantów (Friedland in Oberschlesien), Poland
• Mieroszów (Friedland in Niederschlesien), Poland

References

Notes

1. Law #463
2. Resolution #640
3. Law #418
4. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
5. Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №271-ФЗ от 03 июля 2016 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #271-FZ of July 03, 2016 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
6. Энциклопедия Города России. Moscow: Большая Российская Энциклопедия. 2003. p. 361. ISBN 5-7107-7399-9.
7. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
8. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (May 21, 2004). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек" [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года [All-Russia Population Census of 2002] (in Russian). Retrieved August 9, 2014.
9. Demoscope Weekly (1989). "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров" [All Union Population Census of 1989: Present Population of Union and Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Oblasts and Okrugs, Krais, Oblasts, Districts, Urban Settlements, and Villages Serving as District Administrative Centers]. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года [All-Union Population Census of 1989] (in Russian). Институт демографии Национального исследовательского университета: Высшая школа экономики [Institute of Demography at the National Research University: Higher School of Economics]. Retrieved August 9, 2014.

Sources

• Калининградская областная Дума. Закон №463 от 27 мая 2010 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Калининградской области», в ред. Закона №281 от 6 декабря 2013 г. «О порядке рассмотрения Калининградской областной Думой предложений о присвоении наименований географическим объектам или их переименовании, информирования населения и выявления его мнения о присвоении наименований географическим объектам или их переименовании на территории Калининградской области». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Ведомости Правительства Калининградской области"), №112, 26 июня 2010 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma. Law #463 of May 27, 2010 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Kaliningrad Oblast, as amended by the Law #281 of December 6, 2013 On the Process Used by the Kaliningrad Oblast Duma to Consider the Proposals to Assign Names to Geographic Objects or to Rename Them, to Inform the Populace and Gather Their Opinion on Assigning Names to Geographic Objects or Renaming Them on the Territory of Kaliningrad Oblast. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
• Правительство Калининградской области. Постановление №640 от 30 августа 2011 г. «Об утверждении реестра объектов административно-территориального деления Калининградской области», в ред. Постановления №877 от 21 ноября 2011 г «О внесении изменения в Постановление Правительства Калининградской области от 30 августа 2011 г. №640». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Официально"), №170, 15 сентября 2011 г. (Government of Kaliningrad Oblast. Resolution #640 of August 30, 2011 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Objects of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #877 of November 21, 2011 On Amending the Resolution of the Government of Kaliningrad Oblast #640 of August 30, 2011. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
• Калининградская областная Дума. Закон №418 от 27 апреля 2015 г. «Об объединении поселений, входящих в состав муниципального образования "Правдинский район", и организации местного самоуправления на объединённой территории». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации http://www.pravo.gov.ru, 5 мая 2015 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma. Law #418 of April 27, 2015 On the Merger of the Settlements Comprising the Municipal Formation of "Pravdinsky District" and on the Organization of the Local-Self Government on the United Territory. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).